Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 86614

Shown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

ambein

Posted by geno on December 11, 2001, at 19:40:28

Hello i have a question. I have 10mg of ambien perscibed to me as well as .5mg of xanax a day. My problem is, at 11pm , i take 10mg of ambien. at 3or 4 am , i wake up and cannot get back to sleep. Question is, could i take the .5mg of xanax with 5mg of ambien to get back to sleep? I also figure if i take the .5mg of xanax at night, half way through the next day i need another one. I feel better when i take the xanax when i wake up so it lasts through the day/.

any comments
geno

 

Re: ambein

Posted by blondemomints on December 12, 2001, at 4:59:26

In reply to ambein, posted by geno on December 11, 2001, at 19:40:28

Hi Geno,

I had the same identical problem with Ambien. I would take it and get about 4 good hours of sleep then WHAM, I was wide awake! I also took it with .50 mg of Xanax but the Xanax alone seemed to be more effective for me. Many of my friends who take Ambien say it seems to only help them sleep for around 4 hours and then wide awake. I've noticed I can only take it for about 4 days straight and then I see no results at all.

I feel those of us with true insomnia cannot be properly helped with Ambien, we need something stronger that can produce the *rem* (deep sleep) one needs. Luckily for me I have found that Seroquel is very helpful for sleep although I don't like a couple of the side effects.

Good luck my friend. Robin

 

Re: ambein

Posted by Bill L on December 12, 2001, at 7:01:30

In reply to ambein, posted by geno on December 11, 2001, at 19:40:28

Ambien oftentimes only lasts for about 4 hours no matter what dose you take. But you can take another Ambien at 3 am as long as you don't have to wake up for another 4 or 5 hours. Why don't you try 5 mg at 11 pm and then another 5 mg at 4 or whenever you wake up? A lot of people fall asleep on just 5 mg.

> Hello i have a question. I have 10mg of ambien perscibed to me as well as .5mg of xanax a day. My problem is, at 11pm , i take 10mg of ambien. at 3or 4 am , i wake up and cannot get back to sleep. Question is, could i take the .5mg of xanax with 5mg of ambien to get back to sleep? I also figure if i take the .5mg of xanax at night, half way through the next day i need another one. I feel better when i take the xanax when i wake up so it lasts through the day/.
>
> any comments
> geno

 

Re: ambein

Posted by geno on December 12, 2001, at 17:27:09

In reply to Re: ambein, posted by Bill L on December 12, 2001, at 7:01:30

> Ambien oftentimes only lasts for about 4 hours no matter what dose you take. But you can take another Ambien at 3 am as long as you don't have to wake up for another 4 or 5 hours. Why don't you try 5 mg at 11 pm and then another 5 mg at 4 or whenever you wake up? A lot of people fall asleep on just 5 mg.
>
> > Hello i have a question. I have 10mg of ambien perscibed to me as well as .5mg of xanax a day. My problem is, at 11pm , i take 10mg of ambien. at 3or 4 am , i wake up and cannot get back to sleep. Question is, could i take the .5mg of xanax with 5mg of ambien to get back to sleep? I also figure if i take the .5mg of xanax at night, half way through the next day i need another one. I feel better when i take the xanax when i wake up so it lasts through the day/.
> >
> > any comments
> > geno


Hello, well my experience last night was a bummer. Note i have extreme panic attacts and anxiety. I stopped remeron 3 nights ago. BOY i can tell a difference. My anxiety is toppling. So last night i took 10mg of ambien, and calmed me a bit and feel asleep 30min later, approx. 1130. AT 230 am, i woke WIDE awake in a panic! So i took my .5mg of xanax and feel asleep about 45min later, but didnt sleep that deep waking up here and there finally 8pm. At 9am, the xanax must have worn off and i began to have panic attacts, rapid heart rate, numb feeling, sweaty, worryless thoughts. ( and for some reason, the remeron must have been suppressing my libido, because i was also very @@rney all day.

My plan for tonight is to take another 10mg at 3am when i do awake, to get me alseep faster till about 7 or 8 when i need to get up. THEN ill take my xanax, which will get me through most of the work day withough anxiety attacks.

Remeron i think is a MUST for us anxiety sleep disturbed people. But i laid off it because im gaining so much weight. But today, i was less hungry, def more anxious, and felt not rested.

Does any know if ELavil will work the same, and cause less hunger. If so , im on it. What i need is a pill that will keep me alseep for 8 hrs, help next day anxiety, and NOT cause hunger. Im a body builder and i wanna start shedding the pounds for the spring NOW!!

geno

 

Re: ambein

Posted by Joy on December 12, 2001, at 21:36:29

In reply to ambein, posted by geno on December 11, 2001, at 19:40:28

Ambien is not a good med for insomnia. Like you, I get maybe 4 hours the couple of times I've tried it. I take a little Xanax with 50 mgs Trazodone which works so much better. Also, there are people who sleepwalk with Ambien. Personally, I don't think this med is effective, it's expensive, and does not work well for the majority of people.
Joy


> Hello i have a question. I have 10mg of ambien perscibed to me as well as .5mg of xanax a day. My problem is, at 11pm , i take 10mg of ambien. at 3or 4 am , i wake up and cannot get back to sleep. Question is, could i take the .5mg of xanax with 5mg of ambien to get back to sleep? I also figure if i take the .5mg of xanax at night, half way through the next day i need another one. I feel better when i take the xanax when i wake up so it lasts through the day/.
>
> any comments
> geno

 

Re: ambein

Posted by paxvox on December 13, 2001, at 9:36:25

In reply to Re: ambein, posted by blondemomints on December 12, 2001, at 4:59:26

Ambien has a short half-life, and thus,can cause a lot of people to wake early. This is the same problem with Sonata. Neither is a benzo, however they have an affinity to the benzo receptors in the CNS. I have run the wheel on all types of meds to improve my sleep. I have had success with Ambien in the past,and am taking it now.

If you are waking up in the middle of the night on Ambien then maybe it's not for you. Personally, I prefer the benzos, but most docs don't like to chronically prescribe them (don't get my rant going here).

I would suggest the benzo to GET you to sleep, then consider trying Sonata if you wake at night. It has VERY short half-life, even shorter than Ambien.

A note of caution: both Sonata and Ambien (and for me even Halcion) CAN cause some panic disorders for no particular reason (well,there IS a chemical reason). However, I have found that benzos used at the same time in your med therapy will control this. One needs to be on the "look out" for this particular side effect. It has NOT happened to me THIS round while on Ambien, and I hope it does not. However, being aware that WHEN you DO have a panic attack that it MIGHT be the hypnotic agent causing it, helps you deal better with the attack. Unfortunately, it may mean that you will have to go off the hypnotic. Hopefully, you will have an understanding doc (good luck!) who will give you more (or stronger) benzos when/if this happens.

For me, the advantages of taking the meds are NOT outweighed by the potential side effects. I guess we each need to know how we react to meds.

PAX

 

Re: ambein

Posted by geno on December 13, 2001, at 16:55:45

In reply to Re: ambein, posted by paxvox on December 13, 2001, at 9:36:25

> Ambien has a short half-life, and thus,can cause a lot of people to wake early. This is the same problem with Sonata. Neither is a benzo, however they have an affinity to the benzo receptors in the CNS. I have run the wheel on all types of meds to improve my sleep. I have had success with Ambien in the past,and am taking it now.
>
> If you are waking up in the middle of the night on Ambien then maybe it's not for you. Personally, I prefer the benzos, but most docs don't like to chronically prescribe them (don't get my rant going here).
>
> I would suggest the benzo to GET you to sleep, then consider trying Sonata if you wake at night. It has VERY short half-life, even shorter than Ambien.
>
> A note of caution: both Sonata and Ambien (and for me even Halcion) CAN cause some panic disorders for no particular reason (well,there IS a chemical reason). However, I have found that benzos used at the same time in your med therapy will control this. One needs to be on the "look out" for this particular side effect. It has NOT happened to me THIS round while on Ambien, and I hope it does not. However, being aware that WHEN you DO have a panic attack that it MIGHT be the hypnotic agent causing it, helps you deal better with the attack. Unfortunately, it may mean that you will have to go off the hypnotic. Hopefully, you will have an understanding doc (good luck!) who will give you more (or stronger) benzos when/if this happens.
>
> For me, the advantages of taking the meds are NOT outweighed by the potential side effects. I guess we each need to know how we react to meds.
>
> PAX

Well, it must be causing panic disorder for me. Last night, again i woke up after 10mg of ambien at 11pm, i could feel my body wake right up. And it seems about 5 minutes later, the panic feeling came back. i had no benzos, so i popped another 10mg. Well this time i woke up at 5am. Even worse. Im sick of it, Im going back on remeron. I was so tired to day, and full of anxiety. i dont care about the wieght gain, ill feel better.

 

Re: ambein » geno

Posted by paxvox on December 14, 2001, at 13:16:28

In reply to Re: ambein, posted by geno on December 13, 2001, at 16:55:45

Somtimes the only choice is to stop the med. However, I have found that you CAN re-try it later, you may find it will work then. I think you need to find a doc that will give you some benzos. There is no damn reason ANYBODY should have to suffer from panic attacks! Let's get real and start TREATING people!

PAX

 

Re: ambein » blondemomints

Posted by Pamela Lynn on December 14, 2001, at 14:06:39

In reply to Re: ambein, posted by blondemomints on December 12, 2001, at 4:59:26

DITTO to everything you wrote here about the med. "Ambien".....had the same exact effects on me. I have tried it, in the course of alittle over a year 3 times; each time it had the same reaction...just like you wrote.

I am a "true" sufferor of insomnia, have been for years...I thought that Ambien (the new wonder drug for sleep) would help me...nope, no dice there. Temazepam has worked best for me, but I still wake up after about 5 hrs of VERY unrestful sleep....back to the drawing board.

P.L.

> Hi Geno,
>
> I had the same identical problem with Ambien. I would take it and get about 4 good hours of sleep then WHAM, I was wide awake! I also took it with .50 mg of Xanax but the Xanax alone seemed to be more effective for me. Many of my friends who take Ambien say it seems to only help them sleep for around 4 hours and then wide awake. I've noticed I can only take it for about 4 days straight and then I see no results at all.
>
> I feel those of us with true insomnia cannot be properly helped with Ambien, we need something stronger that can produce the *rem* (deep sleep) one needs. Luckily for me I have found that Seroquel is very helpful for sleep although I don't like a couple of the side effects.
>
> Good luck my friend. Robin

 

Re: ambein

Posted by geno on December 15, 2001, at 18:49:16

In reply to Re: ambein » blondemomints, posted by Pamela Lynn on December 14, 2001, at 14:06:39

> DITTO to everything you wrote here about the med. "Ambien".....had the same exact effects on me. I have tried it, in the course of alittle over a year 3 times; each time it had the same reaction...just like you wrote.
>
> I am a "true" sufferor of insomnia, have been for years...I thought that Ambien (the new wonder drug for sleep) would help me...nope, no dice there. Temazepam has worked best for me, but I still wake up after about 5 hrs of VERY unrestful sleep....back to the drawing board.
>
> P.L.
>
> > Hi Geno,
> >
> > I had the same identical problem with Ambien. I would take it and get about 4 good hours of sleep then WHAM, I was wide awake! I also took it with .50 mg of Xanax but the Xanax alone seemed to be more effective for me. Many of my friends who take Ambien say it seems to only help them sleep for around 4 hours and then wide awake. I've noticed I can only take it for about 4 days straight and then I see no results at all.
> >
> > I feel those of us with true insomnia cannot be properly helped with Ambien, we need something stronger that can produce the *rem* (deep sleep) one needs. Luckily for me I have found that Seroquel is very helpful for sleep although I don't like a couple of the side effects.
> >
> > Good luck my friend. Robin

REmeron is far the best.

 

Re: ambien » paxvox

Posted by svevo1922 on December 15, 2001, at 20:39:50

In reply to Re: ambein, posted by paxvox on December 13, 2001, at 9:36:25

Your suggestion of taking a benzo followed by Sonata is interesting. i wonder whether given my problem your solution would work however. whenever i take Sonata or Ambien it seems to take several hours (at least three maybe more) for them to take effect.

do you think that the presence of lorazepam (aka ativan, the benzo i take) in my system would somehow cause the Sonata or Ambien to kick in more quickly? for a time i was taking estazolam at night, but it was too sedating.


I understand that you weren't discussing this situation in the earlier post, but I'm curious as to what you would predict.

And is it o.k. to have couple of light beers at night, or shortly before bedtime? I just get so tired of lying there, listing to cable commercials all night, every now and then looking down at my restless legs and feet.

Is red wine as compared to light beer more potentially dangerous?

Thanks much for any info.
-----

> Ambien has a short half-life, and thus,can cause a lot of people to wake early. This is the same problem with Sonata. Neither is a benzo, however they have an affinity to the benzo receptors in the CNS. I have run the wheel on all types of meds to improve my sleep. I have had success with Ambien in the past,and am taking it now.
>
> If you are waking up in the middle of the night on Ambien then maybe it's not for you. Personally, I prefer the benzos, but most docs don't like to chronically prescribe them (don't get my rant going here).
>
> I would suggest the benzo to GET you to sleep, then consider trying Sonata if you wake at night. It has VERY short half-life, even shorter than Ambien.
>
> A note of caution: both Sonata and Ambien (and for me even Halcion) CAN cause some panic disorders for no particular reason (well,there IS a chemical reason). However, I have found that benzos used at the same time in your med therapy will control this. One needs to be on the "look out" for this particular side effect. It has NOT happened to me THIS round while on Ambien, and I hope it does not. However, being aware that WHEN you DO have a panic attack that it MIGHT be the hypnotic agent causing it, helps you deal better with the attack. Unfortunately, it may mean that you will have to go off the hypnotic. Hopefully, you will have an understanding doc (good luck!) who will give you more (or stronger) benzos when/if this happens.
>
> For me, the advantages of taking the meds are NOT outweighed by the potential side effects. I guess we each need to know how we react to meds.
>
> PAX

 

Re: ambien » svevo1922

Posted by paxvox on December 17, 2001, at 18:35:54

In reply to Re: ambien » paxvox, posted by svevo1922 on December 15, 2001, at 20:39:50

The benzo-Ambien (or Sonata) combo is not a problem in my book ( or from what I have learned objectively). I just got my Internist to give me some Ativan for some of those "difficult" times when I need that extra boost to relax me.

As far as alcohol: double edged blade, I'm afraid. Whereas alcohol DOES help to relax you, and CAN aid in getting you to sleep, it intefers with deep sleep. So, although you may GET to sleep, and even sleep longer, your sleep "quality"
suffers. This is one reason I quit drinking in 2000 after many years of imbibing. My advice, a beer ot two, MAX is no problem, just try to avoid it too close to bed time. The other reason I say this, is that the alcohol will also make you have to get up to pee (it is a diuretic as well as just the liquid volume of the beer).

As I see it, a nice benzo will relax you, and for me, the beer can be passed (though I DO admit that I miss that occasional brew or two).

Let me know if yo need any more info.

PAX

 

trazodone!

Posted by Collette1 on December 18, 2001, at 17:51:20

In reply to Re: ambien » svevo1922, posted by paxvox on December 17, 2001, at 18:35:54

I am a chronic insomniac also. For the past two months I have gotten a LOT of help from Trazodone (Deseryl). I find that it doesn't make me fall asleep and so I still take 50mg of Benedryl and .5 mg of Xanax for that, but I sleep so well AND all night! While I am still working on trying to reduce some of the pills that I need to fall asleep, the Trazodone is a KEEPER for me! I take 75mg in the evening. Collette

 

Re: ambein » geno

Posted by sleepless on March 23, 2002, at 20:24:00

In reply to ambein, posted by geno on December 11, 2001, at 19:40:28

I’m in my early 40’s extremely high stress job as a manager in collapsing economy. I happen to be an introvert, but work as an extreme extravert with employees and clients.

The last year it seems I have developed sleep, panic and anxiety disorder. I’ve always been a light sleeper and require 8 –9 hours to feel fully functional. The doctor prescribed 25- 50 mg Amitriptyline, which I slept great for 8 hours. I just could not get my internal motor running. It felt like someone tied a 25lb weight to me. I had to stop this med and start to taking Ambein. I have taken Ambein almost every night for 8 months and I find it works great to start my sleep cycle, but I have a tendency to wake after 4 hours. When I wake I just can’t fully get back to sleep seem that I start watching the clock and get frustrated I’m not sleeping. Sometime it acts real fast and others I just slip slowly to sleep.

The last few months it seems that I developed a major anxiety and panic disorder. The doctor prescribed Celexa 20 – 30 mg a day. I have taken this for 6 weeks now and have reduced the panic and anxiety, but have a more difficult time sleeping. (This side effects of the Celexa is terrible, but the overall results are outstanding) I just stopped the Ambien and the doctor prescribed 5-10 mg of Sonata. I couldn’t sleep at all and woke up with this terrible headache. Anyone experience this? What is the difference?

I’m going to ask the doctor to put me back on Ambein. Is there something out there that is better?.

 

Re: ambein » sleepless

Posted by BarbaraCat on March 24, 2002, at 3:18:54

In reply to Re: ambein » geno, posted by sleepless on March 23, 2002, at 20:24:00

I've been taking 10 mg Ambien for about a year. If it's been a normal day, I can go to sleep easily on it. If a stressful day, or I'm feeling wired I sometimes have to take another half or a full one and sometimes the extra amount will feel energizing.

I also have an anxiety disorder along with depression and finally gave in and started taking the klonopin my pdoc prescribed months ago. It's helped tremendously. I usually take it 2-3 times a day every day to keep the anxiety at a low threshold. I can usually go to sleep if my day has been relatively relaxed and it doesn't space me out at all, in fact, I can think more clearly without the stranglehold of anxiety. It also feels like it's resetting some switch in my brain.

I didn't want to take it for a long time because of the supposed addiction and tolerance to benzos, but I've stopped for a number of days and have found absolutely no 'gotta have it' feelings at all. If you're going through panic attacks (the worst nightmare imaginable), get yourself something that will break the cycle and really help both day and night. Good luck - Barbara


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